Bit Crushed Accent (w/ 5 Extra Arms)

I have been really into experimenting with synths, effects, drum programming and audio editing lately; probably because I haven't been able to play any "real"instruments lately. This started out as a sample of a sound made by a car. I based part of the rhythm around it, and did some drums, then deleted the car sample and went nuts. I did all of the synth bits with Logic's stock synths and a couple of instruments I had put together in EXS.

I had been wanting to do something with Five Extra Arms (we both have an adolescent fascination with sci-fi and robots) and sent it to him in January and he sent me back some vocals and some wailing lead guitar sounding synth lines. He actually sent me his tracks really quickly, but I was doing the RPM challenge with APOD and didn't have a chance to finish the track. I ended up running his vocals through a bunch of effects (a few different delays) to make the most of his sci-fi robot girl/digital stripper imagery. Most of the effects I got here were done with delay. Amazing what you can do with a little modulation and the mute button. This song was definitely made with headphone listening in mind.

The story goes like this:
Mans lust has driven him to the point of replacing women with mechano-sluts. Once they have completed their evil mission, the men have no one to brag to anymore and start to die of loneliness. Then they get devoured by a zombie army led by some guy with a synth in Florida. Zombies are the dumb jocks of the undead, so the ending is a particularly nasty form of degradation to the evil objectifier men.

The samples of the girl were from Freesound and were recorded by Corsica_S.
http://www.freesound.org/usersViewSingle.php?id=7037

First of all - great lyrics - great vocals
then the production - what a perfect match you two guys are for this track - really excellent textures and beats. Nice use of the freesound - and I love the fact that the beat came from a field recording of a car.

ha
i loved that movie and the soundtrack for it was perfect. this was fun (Bob is a great guy with a tremendous sense of humor and wonder about the world). this sounds like arena rock to me. thanks for checking it out Karen.

Really like this
Don't you love freesound? Really like the chops and cuts in that beat you created. I'm in a similar place musically right now and would love to try a collab like this with you. So if you have any more rhythm beds you wanna dump send em my way. Great collab guys.

ridd
what's up man? long time. I would love to do a track with you. we can work something up no problem. I could also send you the drum stems from this if you want to play with it. good to hear from you.

Adolescent Fascination
When Michael told me he had a tune that he wanted to work on together, I immediately said "Yeah!". He described it as a noisy drum circle played by hot chick robots, so I knew I was gonna like it before he sent it to me.

I sent him a vocal track and a week or so went by and I didn't hear from him. I thought the worst. Then I listened to the track again and completely redid the vocals and added another verse, hoping he hadn't heard the first attempt. Lucky me. He was so busy with RPM that he didn't notice!

The final mix posted here is really great. Michael, you love turning those knobs and tweaking those noises, don't you? I love all the subtle clinks and clammers, gurgles and blorps. You have a unique conceptual approach to the addition of sound and effects. The female voice is perfect. I just got my cranium cracked.

Thanks for including me in this creative process. You're always fun to hang out with the headphones on.

bob
i do love to tweak knobs. there is a part in the last verse where your vocal line turns into a feedback shriek. it's maybe my fave part of the song. took me a little while to figure out how to do it, but man I had fun. thanks a bunch for being game.

Different planets?
Hi Guys. This is so far removed from my acoustic guitar driven stuff that I wonder whether I am on the same planet as you guys :-) The conceptual development of a piece like this amazes me. Enjoyed it a lot. Thanks. Regards, Peter.

well
yeah, why not? robots are already not alive, so all they need is a set of teeth and the programming necessary to make them eat brains. excellent idea Vic; you'll be called in for the next M2/5EA collab.

blips and bleeps and robot go go girls
these are the things bob sings about as he twirls over the salzburg hills of his dreams. perfect tune. really like the phrasing and delivery of that last verse, lots of angst in there.

Okay!
Now this is an experiment that agreed very much with me guys! Some very intriguing sounds adhere very nicely with the vocal and lyrics and I had a good very pleasurable time listening (and I hope you know I rather admire you Michael for trying different things--and this is coming from lazy ol' Mr. AABA-type Song Person here) Thanks again you two! Michael

Epilogue
After reading your story ending, I was thinking this is an epic rock opera in the making. Imagine what Lady GaGa could do with the visual costuming ideas and the whole mechanic Frankenstein assembly line scenes. Does the guy with a synth live in a Trailer Park?!

I'm a guy who never wanted to do anything but play music. I grew up with classic rock and prog rock before discovering punk and the new york dolls once I got to high school. As i got a little older (and less angry), I developed a love of ... [see more]

Electropop (also called Technopop) is a subgenre of synth pop music which flourished during the early 1980s, although the first recordings were made in the late 1970s. Numerous bands have carried on the electropop tradition into the 1990s and 2000s.